Recombinomics
CommentaryMay 6, 2006H5 bird flu antibodies have
been found in the blood of a wild goose shot for testing outside
Arkhangelsk, Nikolai Yuferev, the chief expert from the Arkhangelsk
regional veterinary department, told Interfax.

The finding of H5 antibodies in northwestern Russia is cause for
concern. Although the antibodies could be from low pathogenic
avian influenza, the likelihood that it is the Qinghai strain of H5N1
is high. Last year Russia's OIE
Mission report described 24 species (wild duck, laughing gull, rook,
northern stover, crow, pigeon, sandpiper, oyster catcher, little grebe.
black-winged stilt, phalatrope, little tern, pied wagtail, green
sandpiper, white headed plover, starling, coot, mallard sparrow hawk,
buzzard, turtle dove, garganey, teal) that had H5N1. These birds had
also been shot out of the sky by hunters and demonstrated widespread
H5N1 in Russia. The report also indicate that testing in sparsely
populated regions had been limited, and the H5N1 infections were more
common than indicated in the report.

The recent report
of H5N1 in two counties in Qinghai province in China also raised the
possibility that H5N1 is again migrating to the north.
Arkhangelsk is in the East
Atlantic Flyway, which connects Russia to North America, as well as
western Europe and western Africa. The Qinghai stain of H5N1 has
recently been reported in wild geese in both of these regions, further
suggesting that the Russia result was linked to H5N1.

The latest data suggests that H5N1 will soon be detected in North
America, adding to the global reach of H5N1.